THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY

by ALPHONSE CERZA, P.M.

This Short Talk Bulletin has been adapted from a paper
presented to the Illinois Lodge of Research by Bronx Cerza. We thank him for
sharing it with us.

When and where did Freemasonry originate? It is a
tantalizing question. It has been a source or much misunderstanding and has
generated a great deal of pompous nonsense by overly enthusiastic members with
lively imaginations. There arc many Masons who look upon our rituals as a lesson
in history and will state with positive assurance that the Craft originated with
the building of King Solomon’s Temple. They fail to recognize that our
ritualistic work is not a presentation of history but merely a vehicle to teach
basic moral truths in an effective manner with the use of builders’ tools as
symbols.

At the outset we should recognize that we do not know
when or where Freemasonry originated. The reason is that it did not start in one
place at one time, by one man or group of men. We can assume that when one man
walk-ed the earth there was no Freemasonry because there was no need for it. But
when two men appeared on the scene and recognized the need for associating with
others and helping one another, Freemasonry in its most elementary form began.
When we begin to consider the origin of the present day organization which we
know as Freemasonry we have many serious problems. There are a number of
theories that have been advanced on this subject and it is interesting to
consider some of them.

Henry W. Coil, in his fine Freemasonry Through Six
Centuries, volume one, states that there are twenty-four theories regarding the
origin of Freemasonry. No useful purpose would be served in covering the list in
detail one by one. He states (p. 7):

“Evidently, most of these theories must be false. An
hypothesis, in order to ripen into a valid conclusion must be supported not
merely by some fact, but by sufficient fact to carry moral conviction and remove
it from the realm of conjecture, and, moreover, it must with be consistent with
all other known facts.”

In “The Craft in the East”, written by Christopher
Haffner, there appears the follow-

“In 1908, Bro. Charles Bernadin reported on his study of over
two hundred separate

volumes dealing with the origins of Masonry. One affirmed
that Masonry existed before the

creation, fifteen merely that it went back as far as the
Garden of Eden. In this miasma of

historical phantasy, one book traced the origin of the Craft
to the Emperor of China, another

to the Orient generally. Such legends are of value only as a
study in the credulity of our fellow

men.”

Most of the theories are based on taking some
similarities that exist between the Craft and some ancient organization, or
object, and then concluding that the similarities prove that there has been
found the start of the present day Craft. Too often there are a number of
dissimilarities that are conveniently overlooked or ignored. The weakness of
most of these theories is that there are plenty of missing links as one examines
the matter down through the ages and the ancient group cannot be clearly and
logically linked to the Craft step by step. The reason for not being able
to answer the question is clearly set forth in the sixth edition of Pick &
Knight, The Pocket History of Freemasonry as follows: (p. 13)

“In a system, fundamentally ethical, which makes a wide
use of symbolism in its manner of imparting instruction, it would be surprising
if there were not many points of contact with a variety of religions, old and
new, in addition to the classical ‘Mysteries’, and even ancient Chinese
philosophy, in which, for example, the square is known to have been employed as
an illustration or emblem of morality.”

And it is further stated in the same book:

“Many of the doctrines or tenets inculcated in Freemasonry
belong to the vast tradi-

tions of humanity of all ages and all parts of the world.
Nevertheless, not only has

no convincing evidence yet been brought forth to prove the
lineal descent of our

Craft from any ancient organization which is known to have,
or even suspected of

having, taught any similar system of morality, but also,
from what we know of the Craft in the few centuries prior to the formation of
the first Grand Lodge in 1717, it is excessively unlikely that there was any
such parentage.” And the following is stated in the same book regarding
the various theories: “An immense amount of ingenuity has been expended on
the exploration of possible origins of Freemasonry, a good deal of which is now
fairly generally admitted to have been wasted.”

It is the considered judgment of most Masonic scholars
who have examined the sub-ject that the present day organization known as
Freemasonry evolved from the operative guilds of the Middle Ages. The period of
transition covered several hundred years and was gradual, but that can be traced
with some degree of certainty. The Pick & Knight book, from which the above
quotations were taken, is a good one to get the basic picture generally. For one
who wants more details of the various theories the Coil book mentioned above is
a good start.

Let us examine briefly a few of the attractive theories
which have been advanced on this subject.

George Oliver stated that Freemasonry originated before
the creation of the world. He has been much misunderstood in this statement.
What he probably meant was that the system or order in the universe was
originated before the present world was created. We can pass up this theory
quickly.

The theory has been advanced that Freemasonry originated
in the Garden of Eden. It is stated that since Adam was the first man and
he wore a fig leaf apron, and today Masons wear aprons, that he must have been
the one to originate the Craft. How many of you are willing to accept this
theory on such “evidence”? And if you do, where are the connecting links
that bring the subject down through the ages to the present day?

It is sometimes stated that in all primitive societies
there was a structure that was known as the “Men’s House” in which the leaders
of the community met in secret and had initiatory ceremonies in admitting young
men into the select group when they arrived at maturity. These new members
were taught lessons on the manual arts and sometimes symbols were used to teach
moral lessons. But here again we have merely some similarities and the links are
missing.

The large number of organizations that existed in the
ancient world under the designation of “Ancient Mysteries” are sometimes stated
to be the Craft. Select membership, secret ceremonies, the use of symbols, a
death and a rising are some of the items pointed to as being “proof” of the
origin. Here again we are mere-ly talking about similarities.

There is the theory of the Roman Collegia, the stone
Masons attached to each legion which followed the army into conquered territory
to build roads and structures familiar to the Romans. These groups were banded
together in a foreign area of mutual aid and assistance; the chief executive
officer was called the Master; and his two assistants were called Wardens.
They used the tools of their operative trade as symbols. They aided and assisted
the widow and orphans of the members. Here again we are examining similarities
and the links are missing.

Then we have the story of the Cathedral Builders of the
middle ages. To the limited ex-tent that these organizations of operative
workmen were the foundation stones of the Craft, in a general way the view can
be accepted. But when a story is woven with such embellishment that the
operative workmen over a period of five hundred years retreated to the island of
Como and there preserved the skills and ideals of the group for transmission to
future generations, we must state that this is a bit far-fetched. This theory
was discarded many years ago.

What evidence is advanced to support the theory that is
accepted today by Masonic scholars who have studied the matter in depth?

The oldest extant document associated with Freemasonry is
the Regius Poem which is believed to have been written around the year 1390 and
purports to be a copy of an older book. It describes the moral duties of the
operative workman and has a remote connection with Freemasonry as that term is
used to-day. But we must have a starting point and this is as good as any. The
next oldest document is the Cooke Manuscript and is supposed to have been
prepared around the year 1410. There are many similar manuscripts that have been
discovered over the years which related to this subject and have points of
similarities in their language and general content. The oldest minute book
extant relating to a lodge that had non-operative members is the one belonging
to Mary’s Chapel for the year 1598; and the next oldest one is that of
Kilwinning Lodge; both of these Lodges existed in Scotland.

The first records of non-operative members joining a
lodge should be noted here. Elias Ashmole, a famous antiquarian of his day,
recorded in his diary that on October 16, 1646, he was made a Freemason at
Warrington in Lancashire; thirty six years later, in 1682, he noted that he had
visited a lodge in London. In 1686 there was published the Natural History of
Starfordshire, by Dr. Robert Plot. It contains a brief description of the
customs and workings of a lodge. About this time Random Holme described the
existence of Masonic lodges in England. In 1686 there was published The Natural
History of Wiltshire, by John Aubrey, in which he mentions the Fraternity of
Freemasons .

During the period when there was extensive activity in
the construction of large buildings and cathedrals in England, Scotland and
parts of Europe, it was common for the workmen to travel from place to place in
connection with their work. As far as proving their operative skills these
workmen could demonstrate their abilities by actually doing the work allotted to
them. But each workman was also bound by certain ethical standards in the
general conduct of his life and as a workman. As a result, there was developed a
sign, or a word, or both which enabled these traveling workmen to assure their
employers that they were, in fact, bound by these ethical standards. This
developed an air of secrecy which enabled workmen to prove themselves to a
prospective employer. This was probably the only element of secrecy in the group
except for some operative matters. Possibly later this element of secrecy
lent itself to the development of future esoteric elements in this group.

The transition from the operative to the symbolic Craft
was gradual and covered several hundred years. During this period the lodges at
first consisted primarily of the operative workmen with a few honorary or
“accepted” members. These non-operative members joined the lodges for their
social benefits as the workmen did observe many feast days and holidays with
entertainments and other obser-vances. With the decline of the building trade
resulting from many catastrophes such as the Black Death, the Great Fire of
London, and other events, the needed number of workmen declined and eventually
these members left the lodges as they sought other employment. Eventually the
lodges had members who were entire-ly non-operative.

By the year 1716 most of the lodges had only
non-operative members. In December of that year, on St. John’s Day, a number of
members met in London and had an informal meeting. As a result of this meeting
the members of four lodges met in London on June 24, 1717, and formed the Grand
Lodge. This became one of the most important dates in Masonic history because it
marked in an elementary way the start of the present day organizational charters
to groups that work as lodges. This date is sometimes described as the starting
point of modern Freemasonry.

Wor. Bro. Cerza resides at 237 Riverside Rd., Riverside,
Il. 60546.

REFERENCES

Henry W. Coil, Freemasonry Through Six Centuries.

Vol. 1, pp. 1-123 (1966)

Pick & Knight, The Pocket History of Freemasonry

Sixth ed., 1977.

W.J. Hughan, Connecting Links Between Ancient

and Modern Freemasonry from a Non-Masonic
Standpoint. I A.Q.C. 50 ( 1886).